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Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn is the second wife of Henry the VIII. She appears in seasons 1, 2 and in a dream sequence in the fourth season. She is introduced to the King by her father, Thomas Boleyn who wishes to improve his own social standing by having one of his daughters marry the King. She is portrayed by Natalie Dormer in a higly praised role. Anne infatuates the King by denying him. She refuses to be his mistress which only increases Henry’s desire to marry her. Despite her eventual execution, her legacy continued through her daughter, Elizabeth I, who became Queen of England in what is called the Golden Age. Season One Anne Boleyn is the sister of Mary Boleyn, who becomes Henry's short-time mistress in episode 2. Thomas Boleyn is dissapointed by Mary's failure and tells Anne she must take Mary's place, in order to restore their family's favor with the King. He reasons that Anne is more exotic than her sister and she will be able to keep the King's interest longer (pointedly remarking, "I daresay you learned things in France?...") Henry first sees Anne at a banquet but does not think much of her. Eventually, at another event, where everybody is wearing masks, Henry gazes at Anne from afar. He becomes infatuated with her and kisses her in episode 4, but she breaks the kiss and says she has to get back to her ladies. Henry dreams of Anne, and she tells him in the dream to seduce her, and says he should send her poems. In episode 5, Henry visits Anne and requests that she be his mistress, but she refuses, because of the possibility she will be discarded the same way her sister was. He promises not to have a thought or affection for anybody else (which is quickly proven wrong in season 2), but Anne's decision is final. He leaves in a fury, storming back to court annoyed. Anne's eyes tear as she realizes she has upset the King, whom she genuinely grows to love. However, later on in the episode Anne and Henry are seen making out passionately on a bed, and we see she has agreed to become his lover. She promises to give Henry a son when they are married. In the following episode, Henry sends Anne a love letter, stating "For what joy in this world can be greater than the company of her who is the most dearly loved?" However, Anne is told by her father and uncle to use Henry's love to their advantage. Anne keeps her submission to Henry secret, lest she endure the dissapproval for it. When a plague breaks out, Anne is struck by the sweating sickness and begins dying. Her brother George and King Henry are both devastated, and Henry forces the physician to treat Anne. He is told she'll by dead by morning and there is no hope, but Anne is still alive in the morning and she and Henry playfully run up to each other, kissing, and Henry thanks God for saving Anne's life. Henry's desire for Anne and his desire for a male heir, rather than his 'conscience', drives him to want an annullment to his marriage to Catherine of Aragon . However, the granting of the divorce is delayed, and Henry continues his affair with Anne Boleyn. With both their frustrations at the delays mounting, she directs his anger towards Cardinal Wolsey- allowing her father, uncle and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk (who is actually an enemy of hers) to usurp him and elevate Thomas Cromwell, initially a strong ally of her family. Meanwhile, Anne cautiously introduces Henry to her concealed Protestant faith, giving him a book that describes the king as head of the church in his own dominion; thus, she sets the stage for the Reformation in Season 2. In the season 1 finale, Henry horserides with Anne to the forest, and they begin kissing passionately. Stripping off their clothes, they engage in a sexual encounter but when Henry tries to get Anne pregnant she forces him to perform coitus interuptus. Henry storms away, frustrated, and season 1 ends. Season Two Having been appointed Marquess of Pembroke by the King, Anne is now acknowledged as Henry's mistress at court, although she still intends to remove Catherine of Aragon as his queen. After discovering Catherine still makes Henry's shirts, Anne yells at Henry, saying "you can't have three people in a marriage." Henry forces Catherine to stop making his shirts in response. In episode 2.02, Henry takes Anne to France to both renew a friendship treaty with King Francis and present her as his betrothed; Francis recognizes her from her days as his Queen's lady-in-waiting and greets her as a friend, but warns her of the challenges she will face as a monarch. Anne submits to Henry sexually while they are in France, begging him to help her concieve a male heir. They then have unrestricted sex. In the following episode, Henry becomes tired of waiting for his anullment of his marriage to Catherine, and marries a pregnant Anne Boleyn secretly. By now, at least two assasination attempts against her have been made, one at the suggestion of the Pope- this has cemented Henry's decision to break with the Catholic Church. Anne gives birth in episode 3.03, but it is a girl (whom they name Elizabeth) much to Henry's disappointment and her own. However, Henry assures her they are both young and will still have sons later. Anne's power also rises dramatically when Catherine is banished from court; so is her daughter Mary, who despises Anne. Catherine is stripped of her title as Queen, and becomes Dowager Princess. Mary is falsely declared King Henry's bastard and demoted to the title of Lady Mary. Preparations are made for Anne Boleyn's coronation as Queen. Anne is crowned Queen of England in front of a notably small crowd, narrowly avoiding another assasination attempt. She instructs her household to rigidly follow Protestant doctrine and to keep good etiquette. In episode 4.04 Anne tells Mary Tudor that she wants reconciliation, and she will convince Henry to allow Mary back to court, but if only Mary accepts her as Queen. Mary refuses, stating her mother is the only true queen and insultingly refers to Anne as Henry's mistress. Henry begins sleeping with one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting while she is heavily pregnant and later when she is recovering from childbirth; Anne quickly catches wind of what is happening and has the girl banished on false accusations of theft. When Anne discusses this with her father, he tells her not to worry as long as Henry does not claim a mistress who will pose any political threat to her. She later successfully sets Henry up with her lady-in-waiting and cousin Madge while she is pregnant again in 4.04, but is then shown crying in her bed alone, indicating she is still distressed by the matter. Despite this, she and Henry are still shown to share considerable affection. In episode 2.05, Anne and Henry both learn of her sister Mary's marriage to a common soldier when she comes to visit them while pregnant; after some hesitation, Anne (clearly pressured by her father) banishes her sister from the court as punishment. She becomes good friends with the court musician Mark Smeaton but does not become anything more with him. Anne's second pregnancy ends in miscarriage at the start of the episode. Worried, she asks if Henry still has passion for her. Henry tells her he still loves her, then kisses and embraces her, setting her mind at rest. However, her paranoia of Catherine and Mary as political threats does not decrease, despite the Act of Succession making her daughter Elizabeth the next in line to the throne; she knows from Catherine's fall from grace that Henry can change the decree whenever it is convenient for him, and she now fears the King's absolute power that she encouraged him to acquire in the first place. This is becomes apparent in episode 2.06 when the two argue over the French refusal to accept a betrothal alliance involving Elizabeth, because the Catholic French King does not recognize Anne as Henry's wife or Elizabeth as his heir, despite his previous friendship with the Boleyns. Anne and Henry's marriage begins to truly fragment in this episode, and her attempts to speak out against her various enemies in court- all of the King's favorites apart from her family and Thomas Cromwell- are ignored, making her more vulnerable. She increasingly fears a conspiracy for her death, which she confides in her brother George, the only member of her family she is still close to. Anne Boleyn becomes pregnant yet again, something she reveals only after Catherine's death in episode 2.07, in a bid to restore her favor with the King. Though Catherine's death removes any illegitimacy of Anne's marriage to Henry, he soon takes an interest in Lady Jane Seymour, another lady-in-waiting. This interest particularly angers Anne when she sees Seymour wearing a locket bearing the king's face, mirroring the expensive necklace he gave to Anne while she ''was lady-in waiting to Catherine. Anne tells her father Thomas Boleyn that she is carrying the King's son, which she actually is. Her father berates her for her interferance with their ally Thomas Cromwell, with whom she now disagrees on reformation policy, and reminds her that she gained her position through following his instructions and manipulations; she angrily retorts that she became Queen through her own actions, by making Henry love and respect her for her intelligence and spirit. However, in episode 2.08, Anne walks in on Henry kissing Jane Seymour (having heard he was injured while jousting), and miscarries her son a short while later. This leads to Henry angrily declaring God won't grant him any male children, and he tells Thomas Cromwell he was under the influence of witchcraft when he married Anne, and that the marriage is null and void. He has also claimed she influenced him to execute his former friend Sir Thomas More. Anne grievingly blames Henry's affair with Jane Seymour as the cause of her miscarriage, claiming he broke her heart. In episode 2.9, Anne is accused of adultery, incest and treason. Although Henry has increasingly resented her for not producing a male heir, it is really Thomas Cromwell who brings her down, despite being passionate about the Reformation as she is; she has become the major obstacle to his influence with the king, and not only disagrees with his policies but threatens him personally. Cromwell gains false testimony from Margaret 'Madge' Sheldon, the handmaiden Anne set up as Henry's mistress, while Charles Brandon continues to poison Henry against her. Innocent men, Anne's supposed lovers, are tortured into submission, and even Anne's brother George is accused of sleeping with his sister- though, ironically, her only past lover, Thomas Wyatt, is released. Anne does not protest when she is arrested, despite refusing to admit she is guilty. In a desperate attempt to keep the king's favor for the Boleyn family, Thomas Boleyn does not object when his daughter and son are both sentenced to death, ignoring their pleas. At the Tower, Anne watches her friends and brother executed despite obviously fabricated evidence, howling in grief, and she awaits her own fate. Her remaining ally, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, is unable to regain the King's favor for her and is forced to declare their marriage null and void or risk execution. He informs her that her daughter Elizabeth has been declared illegitimate, but he tells Anne he will protect her as best he can; Anne thanks him and makes her last confession, swearing on the perils of hell that she was never unfaithful to Henry, and that she goes to her death in the hope that it will serve him. In the season 2 finale, Anne prepares herself to die, but is frustrated by delays in getting the executioner to the Tower of London. Henry initially seems hesitant to kill her despite his rage over the 'confessions' of her supposed lovers, demonstrated by his repeated postponement of her execution. Charles Brandon, despite his hatred of her, believes she does not deserve such cruelty either and berates Thomas Boleyn (who has been released, albeit in permanent disgrace) for his indifference to the suffering of his children. Even Thomas Cromwell, her unscrupulous former ally-turned-enemy, seems horrified by his actions. For the first time, the people show sympathy for Anne as she ascends the scaffold, accompanied by her weeping handmaidens. With great dignity despite her fear, she assures them she goes to her death willingly and asks them to pray for both her and the king, which they immediately do; Thomas Wyatt is shown weeping in despair at the back of the crowd, and Charles Brandon's son (attending with his father) sheds a tear. The executioner, a French master swordsman, asks Anne's forgiveness for his actions, which she does. She kneels upright and begins to pray, as does the crowd before the scaffold. The executioner then beheads her with a single stroke to prevent pain. This episode marks Anne's last appearance for 18 episodes (she reappears in the series finale). At the episode's conclusion, Henry is seen indifferently eating a swan and looking forward to a fresh start with Jane Seymour, his newly betrothed. Season Four Anne makes a very brief appearance in the series finale. She appears to Henry in a dream sequence, alongside her daughter Elizabeth (in the dream, Elizabeth is now a young woman). After expressing pride for Elizabeth and regretting she had so little time with her, Anne harshly proclaims her innocence for the crimes she was accused of, and the cruelty she and her cousin Katherine Howard had unjustly suffered because they had been drawn to Henry. Henry pleads with Anne not to go, but she leaves with Elizabeth. This proves Henry might have felt remorse for having Anne executed and still loved her on some level- although he clearly got over her, having taking four more queens after her death. The visions of Catherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour affect him in a similar fashion. Henry also says to Anne that he sometimes avoids Elizabeth because she reminds him so strongly of her mother, again indicating that he regrets having her killed. While Anne's daughter Elizabeth Tudor was the last of Henry's children to take the throne, her reign of 44 years- often known as England's Golden Age- was by far the longest, even longer and much more successful than her father's. Thus, Anne finally obtained some popular legacy in England, many years after her death. Personality Anne was a spirited, strong person but she was not without a dark side. She hated Catherine with a passion (though Catherine never did anything to her except protest to Henry) and longed for her death. She also took pleasure in Catherine's death and rumour has it that Catherine was poisoned by the Boleyns, though this was not true. Anne could also be kind, however, comforting her maid when she was struck with the sweating sickness and attempting to reconcile with Mary, though she was coldly rebuffed; she was also shown to love her daughter dearly. She was determined, cultured and had wit and vivacity, and impeccable style. She was also well-talented, loyal to friends and family, and ambitious. However, she did possess a few annoying traits, like all six of Henry's consorts. She was jealous, paranoid and high-strung, and would become very haughty and emotional at times or when under stress. She was rather outspoken and wilful. Anne Boleyn was also very brave, being the only one of Henry's consorts who ever really stood up to him. Her ruthless side once she gained power was largely a result of her father and uncle's manipulations; Thomas Boleyn constantly urged and threatened her to make her keep the King's favor for his own selfish ends, and since she was disliked from the start by many of Henry's court she felt she needed to act quickly to secure her position. Something about Anne, however, irked the people of England, and she was extremely unpopular with most of the nobility as queen, both English and foreign. Like her sister, they referred to her in private as a whore and a concubine, although she was never shown to have relations with anyone except Henry (and, according to him, her former betrothed Thomas Wyatt). She was more independent and intelligent than any of the other queens, and Henry could clearly rely on her for advice; however, her boldness made her many enemies, and this combined with her inabilty to give him a living male heir doomed her. However, she ultimately met her end with dignity; she accepted her sentence without protest, yet adamantly maintained her innocence and loyalty to her husband. Although not Henry's favorite Queen, Anne is the most important one as his intense desire to marry her leads to the Reformation and the birth of his most important heir, Elizabeth. Of the six Queens, she probably loved Henry more than any other except Catherine of Aragon, his original wife. She also reigned longer than any of Henry's Queens except Catherine of Aragon and Catherine Parr (the latter only by a difference of a few days) although her relationship with Henry had begun some time before she was married and crowned, so she really had the second longest relationship with Henry. Backstory Anne Boleyn was born in 1501 at Blickling Hall. From 1513 to 1514, she attended Archduchess Margaret of Austria and learned French under the teaching of Symmonet, a male tutor in Margaret's household. She was then transferred to Paris, France. Anne's European education ended in winter 1521, and she was summoned back to England on her father's orders. She sailed from Callais, in January 1522, for an arranged marriage to distant cousin James Butler, but the alliance did not take place. Anne's debut at court was in March 1522 at a pageant. Around the same year, Anne was courted by Lord Henry Percy, son of the earl of Northumberland and in the spring of 1523, they were secretly betrothed. However, Lord Henry's father wouldn't sanction the marriage after being told of it by Cardinal Wolsey, who could have been acting on the King's orders to keep Anne free for him. Anne got sent to Hever Castle in Kent. She was back to court in mid 1525. At Shrovetide, in 1526, Henry began seriously pursuiting Anne Boleyn. Anne refused to become his mistress, effectively dodging his advances and avoiding him for over a year. Henry wrote a series of undated lover letters to Anne, and seventeen of them are now in the Vatican. Henry proposed marriage to her in 1527 and she agreed after some hesitation. This was marked by the gift of a Symbolic Jewel she sent Henry. It had a fine diamond and took the form of a ship in which a lonely maiden was storm tossed. A letter interpreting it accompanied it, confirming that Anne herself was the maiden and Henry was the ship. And later on, a 7-year marriage ensued where Anne held out for marriage and marriage alone. '''Gentility: '''Anne was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard. The Boleyns often made ambitious matches with Irish nobility. '''Position: '''She was originally Catherine of Aragon's maid until her long journey to becoming Queen consort of England. Quotes *"They say his all liasions are soon over. He blows hot, he blows cold..." Anne about Henry. *"Seduce me. Write letters to me. And poems, I love poems. Ravish me with your words. Seduce me." *"My sister is being called the great prostitute by everyone!" *"Your Majesty!" *"I have an audience with his Majesty." *"Sometimes I wish all Spaniards were at the bottom of the sea." *"I care nothing for Catherine. I'd rather see her hanged than acknowledge her as my mistress." *"He will tire of you, like all the others."- Queen Catherine. Anne: "And what if he does not?" *"What do you think is going to happen?"- Henry. "What always happens."- Anne. *"I remember, I told you everything." *"I can't. You'd share them." *"You think it's nothing to go back to bed with your wife?" *"Trust you? I ''love ''you!" *Anne: "I have a new motto. Do you know what it is?" Henry: "Where is it?" Anne: "On a ribbon, hidden somewhere. You'll have to find it." *"No, you musn't!" *"Don't let her spoil everything." *"You can't have three people in a marriage! Why can't you see that?" *"And do you believe them?"- Anne to Henry on the rumours about her and Thomas Wyatt. "If I did, you wouldn't be here with me."- Henry. *"I love you a thousand times more than Catherine ever did!" *"If only you will accept me as queen." *"God bless you." *"Surely my father could do a much better job?" *"He keeps having affairs." *"My Elizabeth." *"I can just order their deaths!" (Anne laughs) *"You know, everyone's talking about how sick she is. Why doesn't she just die?" Anne on Catherine of Aragon. *"And I am indeed Queen." A maid arrives and whispers in Anne's ear that Catherine has died. *"It is foretold in ancient prophesies that at this time a queen shall be burnt. But even if I were to suffer a thousand deaths, my love for you would not abate one jot." *"Oh my God. Oh my God. What is this?" - Anne walks in on Henry kissing Jane. *"This is not all my fault. You have no-one to blame but yourself for this! I was distressed to see you with that wench Jane Seymour. Because the love I bear you is so great, it broke my heart to see you loved others." *"Catherine is dead! And I am carrying the King's son. We are on the edge of the golden world!" *"I only have a little neck." *Henry VIII: "Why are you here?" Anne Boleyn: "To see my daughter. She was the only pure thing in my life and I neglected her. Since she was only a girl and I wanted so much to give you a son but now I am so proud of her. She is so clever and though she is like me in so many ways, she is not as intemperate as I was. You must be proud of her too, Henry?" Henry: "I am, I am very proud of her and I know how clever she is. And I wish I could love her more, but from time to time she reminds me of you and what you did to me." Anne Boleyn: "I did nothing to you. I was innocent. All the accusations against me were false. I thought you knew. Poor Katherine Howard, she lies in the cold ground next to me. Poor child. It was not her fault either. But we were moths drawn to the flame and burned." Henry: "Anne, please don't!" (Anne disappears). Physical Appearance Anne was not a "looker" according to the standards of those times. They prized pale skin and blonde hair. Her looks were more different and exotic. She was petite and had long black hair and beautiful black eyes. However, in the series, Anne is shown to have blue eyes and long brown hair, which differs physically from the real Anne Boleyn. She also never walks with any grace, elegance or queen-like qualities. The following paragraphs describe the real Anne Boleyn: ''"She was never described as a great beauty, but even those who loathed her admitted she had a dramatic allure. Her dark complexion and black hair gave her an exotic aura in a culture that saw milk-white paleness as essential to beauty. Her eyes were especially striking: 'black and beautiful' wrote one contemporary, while another averred they were 'always most attractive', and that she "well knew how to use them with effect." ''"Anne's charm lay not so much in her physical appearance as in her vivacious personality, her gracefulness, her quick wit and other accomplishments. She was petite in stature, and had an appealing fragility about her...she shone at singing, making music, dancing and conversation...Not surprisingly, the young men of the court swarmed around her." '' Gallery GW200H240-1-.jpg GW250H315-1-.jpg GW215H262-1-.jpg GW321H181-1-.jpg GW306H334-1-.jpg GW237H277-1-.jpg GW309H173-1-.jpg GW329H185-1-.jpg GW286H242-1-.jpg GW370H217-1-.jpg GW321H289-1-.jpg GW220H299-1-.jpg GW254H268-1-.jpg GW306H168-1-.jpg|1st Marquess of Pembroke GW342H243-1-.jpg GW303H303-1-.jpg GW339H471-1-.jpg GW217H239-1-.jpg Category:Characters